AZ Home Inspector must be Bonded OR Insured

Yes, you read that right, The state of Arizona requires home inspectors to have a minimum of a $25,000 bond or be insured for $100,000.

What does that mean to you?

A bond pays if you sue the AZ home inspector and win. If it goes to trial, court costs will likely be higher than the $25,000 bond.

Insurance may settle before a case ever goes to trial and if the inspector chooses to be insured, the minimum policy the state will accept is $100,000.

Then there is the type of insurance is it E & O insurance, GL, workman’s comp? These are some of the questions you should ask before hiring or referring a home inspector.

As AZ Home Inspectors, our Insurance covers the buyer and the referring agent.

We have been inspecting homes for over 10 years and have been involved in construction for even longer. We wouldn’t think of driving without insurance let alone operating a business without insurance.

Our Errors and Omissions Insurance (E & O) covers us if we make mistakes, and if you are the real estate agent that refers us, our policy covers you if you should get blamed for something we did or didn’t do.

If you are the buyer of a home, why wouldn’t you want an AZ home inspector who is insured?

If you are an agent then you not only want to ask if the Phoenix home inspector has E & O insurance but general liability coverage as well.

What happens if the inspectors ladder should fall and hit the sellers car? Who will get blamed? Who will have to deal with the fall out?

Is Your AZ Home Inspector Licensed?

The hard truth is the bond and the insurance cost more per year than the AZ Home Inspector state license.

If the home inspector has been foreclosed on, it is likely they can’t even get a bond for under $2,000 a year. This is one of the reasons registered home inspector numbers have dropped from over 1,700 to 700 in the last 4 years.

However there are still home inspectors out there that are doing the work even though they are not bonded, insured or even state licensed.

It is quick and easy to see if you home inspector is state certified. Simply click on the blue and grey state logo on the right side of this page, this will take you to the state BTR professional registrant page, Type in the last name of the home inspector and then click find. the inspectors name, company and status should show up. Under status it should say AC if the inspector is Active or current.

The State recently fined one home inspector $25,000 for performing home inspections with an expired registration, this was the second time they had caught him and he had performed well over 100 inspections since the last time.

Imagine trying to defend yourself for referring an AZ home inspector that was not licensed.

Imagine finding out after you hired and paid the guy that he was working illegally.

The bottom line is you want someone that is experienced, ethical, educated, and insured. As ASHI Certified Home Inspectors, we can provide that.

If you need an AZ Home Inspection please feel free to contact us.